Spirally-sliced bone-in ham products are popular with consumers, largely because of the convenience of being able to easily remove the pre-sliced ham pieces from the product. A spirally-sliced bone-in ham is produced by slicing it in a manner to form a continuous spiral cut around a centrally-located bone, such as a femur bone. Thus, the meat remains substantially connected to the bone such that the spirally-sliced ham remains intact and can be handled and packaged without pieces falling off, folding over, and otherwise deforming. As a result, a spiral-sliced bone-in ham combines the appealing visual characteristics of an intact ham with convenience of slices that are easily detached from the bone and served. Furthermore, since the ham is sold with meat attached to bone, the consumer has reassurance that the meat is not adulterated with undesirable fillers or byproducts.
It has been recognized that many consumers are hesitant to purchase an entire ham because there is more meat than the household of the purchaser can conveniently consume. As a result, spirally sliced hams are commonly sold at retail in half portions. The full ham is cut transversely through the femur in order to cut the product into a butt half and a shank half. The half that is adjacent to the butt end includes part of the femur and the aitch bone, while the half at the shank end of the product includes the rest of the femur and the shank bone. Both halves are commercially appealing in that only the ends of the femur are visible and the product is not unsightly. Also, the meat remains attached to the bone continuously completely around it, so slices are not prone to falling off or becoming deformed during subsequent handling and packaging.
Spiral slicing of ham is known in the art. A number of different apparatus for spiral slicing of meats, such as hams or roasts, about the bone located in the cut of meat are known. These devices have a number of common features. First, they typically include a rotating chuck assembly. The chuck assembly is driven by some motorized means and is designed to hold the meat to be cut, thereby rotating the meat about the chuck assembly rotational axis. Second, the device includes a powered saw blade, disposed in a plane generally perpendicular to the rotational axis of the chuck assembly and including a means for driving the saw blade, for cutting the meat. To facilitate the mechanics of the cutting process, provisions are generally made for adjusting the position of the saw blade relative to the stated plane. Third, the device includes a means of gradually linearly indexing the saw blade assembly relative to the meat. The index axis is typically parallel to the chuck assembly rotational axis. Lastly, the saw blade assembly typically includes a means for rotating the saw blade about the index axis, thereby laterally positioning the saw blade and bringing the blade into cutting engagement with the meat. The rotation of the meat, when in contact with the saw blade, and the linear indexing of the blade relative to the meat, effect a generally continuous spiral cut of the meat about the bone. While the concept of the apparatus has been accepted, there persists a number of problems associated with existing devices, which will be described hereinafter.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,599,328 and 3,153,436 both disclose apparatus for spiral slicing of ham employing a reciprocating knife structure. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,328, the reciprocating knife is maintained in an essentially horizontal plane while the rotating ham is mounted on a carriage which is adapted to move in a generally upward direction. U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,436 discloses a slicer for boned (i.e., bone-in) or boneless meat products having a reciprocating knife blade which is pivotably mounted on an indexable carriage for engagement with the rotating meat so as to produce a spiral cut therein.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,436, meat rotation, knife blade oscillation, and knife blade indexing are accomplished using a variety of shafts and gears coupled to a single motor. An upper axial adjustable support and a lower rotatably driven support are provided to hold the meat. The upper axial adjustable support includes a rotatable prong structure provided on the lower end of a rod. This structure holds the upper end of the meat for indirect or passive rotation (i.e., the upper support rotates in response to the rotatively driven meat positioned on the rotatively driven lower support). The lower rotatably driven support includes a power driven shaft equipped with a disc having an upwardly projecting center portion and three upwardly projecting circumferentially spaced prongs or tines. The power driven shaft is linked to the single motor by a transmission assembly. When it is desired to slice a boneless meat product, the upper axially adjustable support is outfitted with an accessory spit structure having a telescoping rod and a disc equipped with openings to receive the prongs of the upper support structure. In operation, the telescoping rod of the accessory spit structure is inserted into the boneless meat product so that it longitudinally traverses the boneless meat product, and thereby provides an axis of rotation, and more importantly a structural support running throughout its length, to make spiral slicing possible. The spitted and fully supported meat is then mounted on the slicer for spiral slicing as described in the case of a bone-in product.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,607 discloses a ham product that is formed by cutting a spirally-sliced half-ham longitudinally through the bone. The cut can be made by feeding the half-ham through a band saw blade by hand, by pushing a split cart through the blade, or by feeding the product through the blade on a split belt conveyor. Whatever method is used involves aligning the femur with the saw blade so that the femur is cut longitudinally and the meat remains attached to the bone around approximately half of its original circumference.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,403 discloses a product formed by cutting a ham into three or four pieces. The femur is cut only once, in a direction transverse to the femur, thus only the ends of the femur are visible. Each quarter or portion having a bone exposes the bone only along a substantially flat surface on its sides.
In a spirally sliced bone-in ham, the femur provides structural support for the slices. When a spiral sliced bone-in ham is processed according to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,403, a boneless piece is produced that does not include any part of the femur. Without the structural support provided by attachment to the femur, slices of ham may fall off, fold over, and otherwise deform, requiring extra care in packaging and transporting the product, and potentially necessitating insertion of a skewer or other support mechanism. Despite such extra care, such a delicate product may nonetheless exhibit an irregular shape that appears “processed” and makes an unattractive presentation at the dinner table. Thus, the pieces of ham lacking the structural support of the femur may lose some consumer appeal.
Current methods for spiral cutting ham do not completely cut the entire ham. Further, methods for spiral cutting ham result in an unacceptable level of products which may not be sold as a “prime” products. Accordingly, there is a need in the food service industry for a method of spiral cutting ham that cuts more of the ham and fewer non-prime products.